WHISKY & FOOD – PART II

BASIC CONCEPTS & COMBINATIONS

Before we begin delving into some basics of whisky and food, I suggest you take a trip back to our earlier post in the series, CLICK HERE

Now Whisky much like wine has certain basic notes to keep in mind. It can be full bodied (a complete mouth feel, much like having a meal in a glass), medium bodied or Light bodied. Some whiskys may be hard on the palate while some might be soft on the palate. They range in terms of smokiness, sweetness, fruitiness, maltiness, spiciness etc. (Click here to know more) All of which effect the kind of food to be served with it.

Keep certain things in mind while pairing whisky with food;

Choose food on the basis of whisky, not the other way around. This may be contrary to what people do with wine. Master sommeliers spend years training to assist clients select wine to pair their food selection with.Whisky tends to be more of an investment, not only because of price (wine also has a reputation of being exorbitant at times) but because you can only consume a limited amount of whisky from a bottle at a time (not that that doesnt stop people from downing a whole bottle).Simply put you can take about 6 glasses of wine from an average sized bottle while about 24 odd pegs can be made of a whisky bottle.

Classify the whisky that you wish to pair with your food. This is based on the camps of whisky that are given below, something many whisky experts and aficionados use on a daily basis.

However, at the same time, be experimentative. Since Whisky and food is a relatively young field of exploration, much of its lands are unknown, so do try to be experimentative as well. At the end of the day, it is up to how you prepare the dish and what you think it tastes best with.

Now lets classify what whisky is best for which food based on oits family;

FRAGRANT/ LIGHT BODIED

SERVE WHEN: As an aperitif, before commencing a meal, or with appetisers and snacks

*Aperitif- drink intended to stimulate the palate at the start of a meal.

MALTY & DRY

SERVE WHEN: An aperitif or as a breakfast whisky

SERVE IN: Old Fashioned- Neat

SERVE WITH: Ideally shouldn’t be served with anything, use in limited quantities at the beginning of a meal as there is a dry dustiness that stimulates the palate or with cereal based food.

*Breakfast Whisky – please understand that I do not encourage drinking in the morning (although Winston Churchill was famous for it) this merely refers to a meal that is similar to breakfast in terms of its components.

FRUITY & SPICY

SERVE WHEN: At any point of the meal

SERVE IN: White wine glass

SERVE WITH: Almost everything, the fruitiness would suit tart or lightly prepared food, the spiciness suiting pecant (spicy) preparations or any well seasoned food using spices and herbs.

RICH & ROUND

SERVE WHEN: After dinner or mid meal

SERVE IN: Red wine or Old fashioned glass

SERVE WITH: Possessing tannin’s one could serve it to accompany cigars at the end of a meal. Alternatively their balanced palate would allow red and white meats to go well with it.

SMOKY & PEATY

SERVE WHEN: With any charred or smoked course, alternatively since most peated whisky comes from the islands or isles, it possess a saline touch perfect for fish or seafood courses. The smoke allows for it to compliment cigars at the end of a meal as well

SERVE IN: Old fashioned glasses, Brandy Snifters – young with Soda and old chilled neat